MIDDLE GROUND

摘要

"Undersupplied" is how Action Hotels CEO Alain Debare describes the Middle East. "There is massive potential for midmarket." Economy and midscale brands comprise only 19% of branded supply in the Middle East, according to STR data from December. Other factors support a move into midscale: a decrease in global oil prices that's prompting Gulf Cooperation Council countries to diversify their economies; the predominance of unbranded and privately owned hotels in that sector; growth in intra-regional travel; and a pipeline until 2018 bulging with luxury hotels.